Drowning in plastic - Living in a toxic world

Sixty years ago plastic was an exotic development of modern chemistry. Today it is the most widespread human-made substance in the world. More than 250 billion pounds of raw plastic pellets are produced from petroleum feedstock every year. It is everywhere, in places you never imagined: computers and cell phones; packaging; food and drink containers; home furnishings and building materials; cars, trucks, airplanes and boats; children’s toys and beauty products.

Slum dwellers in Latin America and Africa build their shanties from plastic sheets and collect their water in plastic buckets; plastic flip-flops protect the feet of millions of peasants across Asia. Western consumers eat their take-out food with plastic cutlery from plastic foam containers while swigging water from plastic bottles.

Now no part of the planet can escape its toxic impact on human health and the environment.

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The
children of baby boomers ― the first to be raised in a truly "toxified
world" ― have higher rates of birth defects, asthma, cancer, autism and
a frightening range of other neurological illnesses from ADHD to mental
retardation, and other serious chronic illnesses compared to previous
generations. Coincidence? What can we do about it.